Kobe Bryant peaked too soon, his teammates didn’t offer much help in the clutch, and the Dallas Mavericks introduced themselves as a cool, veteran team that could halt the Lakers’ run toward a third consecutive NBA championship.

Bryant’s 26-footer banged off the left side of the rim at the buzzer, and the Lakers lost this Western Conference semifinal opener, 96-94, on Monday night.

It was Bryant who earlier this season implored his teammates before a big game in Dallas that the Mavericks were a team that could take down the Lakers in the posteason. The Lakers did win that regular-season game, but despite Bryant’s 36 points on 14-of-29 shooting, they couldn’t win this playoff game.

Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki was outstanding with 28 points and 14 rebounds — helping the Mavericks, who tied Miami for most regular-season road victories, overcome their loss of composure that bridged halftime and left them trailing by 16 points.

Bryant hit the 30-point plateau with 1:11 left in the third quarter but sat out the early part of the fourth quarter — and Dallas took advantage behind Nowitzki. The Lakers’ bench struggled badly — and wound up outscored by a 40-25 count by Dallas’ bench — while Bryant rested.

Bryant came back and did hit one big late shot with a 10-footer for a 94-91 Lakers lead with 1:00 left, but Nowitzki answered 20 seconds later. Then with Jason Kidd on him, Bryant drove all the way to the basket before trying to pass the ball back toward Derek Fisher — and Jason Terry picked it off. Bryant did not have an assist in the game, and Dallas had 30 to the Lakers’ 21.

That turnover gave Dallas, which hadn’t led since the second quarter, a chance to take the lead.

Pau Gasol made it easy on the Mavericks by trying to reach and swat the pass to Nowitzki, who took a hit to the back of the head from Gasol, according to referee Bob Delaney. Nowitzki’s two free throws with 19.5 seconds left gave Dallas a 95-94 lead.

Kidd, who grew close to Bryant while they were 2008 U.S. Olympic teammates, did just enough pulling on Bryant in the final minutes to make it hard for Bryant to get past him. Kidd wasn’t called for grabbing Bryant on the subsequent play where Gasol lost the ball — or for contact with Gasol that sprung the ball free to be stolen.

Gasol finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Andrew Bynum didn’t get in rhythm all night and had just eight points and five rebounds.

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